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TCJS Online Seminar | Japan: The Harbinger State

November 15, 2022

Details

Type Lecture
Intended for General public / Enrolled students / Applying students / International students / Alumni / Companies
Date(s) November 17, 2022 09:00 — 10:00
Location Online
Capacity 100 people
Entrance Fee No charge
Registration Method Advance registration required
https://tcjs.u-tokyo.ac.jp/archives/4235  (Please register from this link)
Registration Period November 15, 2022 — November 17, 2022
Contact contact@tcjs.u-tokyo.ac.jp
"Japan: The Harbinger State"
Phillip Lipscy (Univ. of Toronto / Univ. of Tokyo)

<Abstract>
Why study Japan? Research on contemporary Japanese politics and foreign policy faces headwinds from the relative geopolitical decline of Japan and scholars skeptical about single-country studies. An overview of Japanese politics publications in English-language journals over the past four decades suggests the subfield remains active and robust. However, there is still room to grow. I argue that Japan is a harbinger state, which experiences many challenges before others in the international system. As such, studying Japan can inform both scholars and policymakers about the political challenges other countries are likely to confront in the future. In turn, scholarship on Japan offers a critical opportunity to develop theoretical insights, assess early empirical evidence, and offer policy lessons about emerging challenges and the political contestation surrounding them. I consider the reasons why Japan so often emerges as a harbinger across issue areas and suggest areas for ongoing scholarly attention.

<Speaker Profile>
Phillip Y. Lipscy is a professor of political science at the University of Toronto, where he is also Chair in Japanese Politics and Global Affairs and the Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Japan at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy. In addition, he is cross-appointed as a professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo. His research addresses substantive topics such as international cooperation, international organizations, the politics of energy and climate change, international relations of East Asia, and the politics of financial crises. He has also published extensively on Japanese politics and foreign policy.
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